JP2005086517A - Digital camera with foldable liquid crystal finder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera which can be made light and thin by being provided with a foldable liquid crystal finder that is stored in a camera main body when unused and projects from a camera external form when used to allow a photographer to confirm a liquid crystal screen through a mirror and an eyepiece, and can perform diopter adjustment to enlarge/reduce an image to allow the photographer to confirm the image. <P>SOLUTION: The finder 5 is provided on the side face of the camera main body. A cover 20 provided with the mirror 19 is pivoted to the camera main body, and further, a Fresnel eyepiece 15 is attached pivotally to the cover 20 by a hinge 17. When the cover 20 is opened, the Fresnel eyepiece 15 is opened. The liquid crystal screen 13 is reflected by the mirror 19, subjected to diopter adjustment by the Fresnel eyepiece 15, enlarged or reduced and confirmed by the photographer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

    The present invention relates to a folding liquid crystal finder in an electronic camera, a digital camera, or the like.

Digital cameras are being made lighter and thinner.
However, with a conventional camera having a design shape, it is difficult to reduce the overall length of the photographing lens, and thus it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the camera.
In order to reduce the thickness of the digital camera, a finder system has been proposed in which a liquid crystal screen taken from the taking lens is placed on the side of the camera, and this image can be confirmed through the mirror by opening a mirror pivotally attached to the camera body. . (Patent Document 1)
JP-A-11-275401

In Patent Document 1, a monitor for confirming an image of a video camera is pivotally stored on the side of the body, and is used by opening it at the time of use, in order to solve the disadvantages of a conventional video camera constituted by a thick and heavy liquid crystal panel. Therefore, it is possible to realize a camera that can be thinned in a direction perpendicular to the subject direction. However, Patent Document 1 does not consider a function that allows diopter adjustment and image enlargement / reduction.
An object of the present invention is to reduce the weight and thickness by providing a folding liquid crystal finder that is stored in the camera body when not in use and protrudes from the camera outer shape when used to allow the liquid crystal screen to be confirmed via a mirror and an eyepiece. It is another object of the present invention to provide a digital camera that can adjust the diopter and can confirm an enlarged or reduced image.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 has a photographing optical system in which a photographing lens and an image sensor are arranged in the same direction with respect to a subject, and a liquid crystal screen for displaying an image taken from the photographing lens, In a camera having one end arranged to face a mirror pivotally attached to the camera body, an eyepiece having one end pivotally attached to the mirror is arranged at the front surface of the mirror, and the mirror is pivotally attached to the camera body. When the camera is used, the liquid crystal is opened through the eyepiece when the eyepiece lens has a mechanism in which the eyepiece lens is rotated from the front surface position of the mirror to be arranged at a predetermined position. The screen image can be confirmed.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the outer shape of the camera has a width in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction of the photographing optical system, a short width with respect to a depth dimension in the optical axis direction, and a height. The shutter release button is formed so as to be larger than the depth dimension, and the lower part of the outer shape of the camera can be gripped with one hand, and is disposed on the front or rear surface of the outer shape of the camera with the thumb or index finger of the one hand It is characterized in that it can be operated.
A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the folded liquid crystal finder is provided on either the left or right surface of the camera outer shape.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second, or third aspect of the present invention, a zoom button is provided near the front or rear surface of the outer shape of the camera.

  According to the above configuration, the camera lens can be made thin and the lens can be mass-produced without being bent and shortened. A finder image of a large size can be seen. In addition, the shape of the camera body is limited, and the camera can be easily held by proper arrangement of the operation buttons, so that the operability at the time of shooting can be further improved compared to the conventional thin and small camera.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the external appearance of a digital camera according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between a photographing lens system and a finder, and FIG. (A) is a rear view, (b) is an enlarged plan view of part A, and (c) is an enlarged view of part B. The camera thickness (width) L ₃ (see FIG. 2) is much thinner than the camera depth L ₁ . A photographic lens system including the photographic lens 2 and the CCD 22 is arranged in the vertical direction with respect to the subject 21 and is housed in the camera without bending the optical path of the photographic lens system.

The camera height L ₂ is larger than the depth L ₁ , and the outer shape of the camera body 10 is thin and vertically long. A finder 5 is disposed on the upper left side of the camera body 10. A release button 4 is installed in the center of the front surface of the camera body 10. Grips 9 are planted on both side surfaces of the lower part of the camera body 10. A zoom button 3 is disposed at the boundary between the upper surface and the rear surface of the camera body 10, and an EV button 6 and other buttons 7 are disposed on the rear surface.

The grip 9 can be grasped with the left or right hand, the index finger can be placed on the release button 4, and the zoom button 3 can be operated with the thumb.
A subject image taken from the taking lens 2 is formed on the CCD 22 and an image subjected to predetermined processing is displayed on the liquid crystal screen 13 installed on the side surface of the camera body 10.
One end of a cover 20 provided with a mirror 19 is attached to the camera body 10 so as to be rotatable by a hinge 24, and the mirror 19 covers the liquid crystal screen 13 in a folded state.
The other end of the cover 20 is rotatably attached to the other end of the Fresnel eyepiece 15 by a hinge 17.

An arcuate groove (guide) 18 is provided near the hinge 17 of the cover 20. On the other hand, a pin 23 is implanted in the Fresnel eyepiece 15, and the pin 23 is fitted and guided in the groove 18. When the Fresnel eyepiece 15 is most open, it hits the end of the groove 18 and the Fresnel eyepiece 15 is positioned at an angle as shown in FIG. The Fresnel eyepiece 15 is normally biased in the opening direction by an elastic member (coil spring or the like) (not shown). FIG. 4A shows a state where the cover 20 is closed and the viewfinder is folded. The cover 20 is also pushed in the opening direction by the urging force of the Fresnel eyepiece 15 in the opening direction. When the cover 20 is closed, the cover 20 to be opened is held in a locked state by sliding the lock portion 16.
Thus, by folding the cover 20 constituting the finder, the camera can be made compact when stored.

FIG. 4B shows another usage state of the folded liquid crystal finder, which is an example in which the liquid crystal screen is directly observed.
The cover 20 can be expanded to 90 degrees or more, and thus the liquid crystal screen can be observed directly from the side surface by opening at a wide angle.
When the cover 20 is opened at such an angle, the eyepiece lock unit 14 is previously locked so that the Fresnel eyepiece 15 is not opened.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the digital camera of FIG. 1 is held with one hand and held toward the subject.
The shape of holding the digital camera according to the present invention is similar to the shape of holding a pistol, and the holding state is stable.
By holding in this way, the photographer can see the liquid crystal screen in a state in which the diopter is matched with the Fresnel eyepiece while facing the subject. In addition, the Fresnel eyepiece can also serve to make the liquid crystal screen larger or smaller for easier viewing.

  Used as a liquid crystal finder for digital cameras that can be small, thin, and easy to hold.

It is a front view which shows the external appearance of the digital camera by this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an imaging optical system and a finder. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining details of the liquid crystal finder of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 1A is a rear view, FIG. 1B is an enlarged plan view of an A portion, and FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the other use condition and folding state of the folding liquid crystal finder of the digital camera by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the use condition of the digital camera by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital camera
2 Lens
3 Zoom button
4 Release button
5 Finder 6 EV Button 7 Other Buttons 8 Strap 9 Grip 10 Camera Body 11 Shading Plate 12 Frame 13 LCD Screen 14 Eyepiece Locking Section 15 Fresnel Eyepiece 16 Locking Section 17 Hinge 18 Guide Section 19 Mirror

Claims (4)

It has a photographic optical system in which a photographic lens and an image sensor are arranged in the same direction with respect to the subject, and a liquid crystal screen that displays an image taken from the photographic lens is placed so that one end faces a mirror that is pivotally attached to the camera body In the camera
An eyepiece having one end pivotally attached to the mirror is disposed at the front surface of the mirror, and the mirror is opened at a predetermined angle about the pivot to the camera body so that the eyepiece can be rotated from the front surface of the mirror. Having a mechanism to move and place in place,
A digital camera with a folded liquid crystal finder, wherein the folded mirror is opened and the image on the liquid crystal screen can be confirmed through the eyepiece when the camera is used. The outer shape of the camera is
Forming the width of the photographing optical system in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction to be shorter than the depth dimension in the optical axis direction and the height to be larger than the depth dimension;
2. The lower part of the outer shape of the camera has a shape that can be grasped with one hand, and a shutter release button disposed on the front or rear surface of the outer shape of the camera can be operated with the thumb or index finger of one hand. Digital camera with folding LCD finder.   3. The digital camera with a folded liquid crystal finder according to claim 1, wherein the folded liquid crystal finder is provided on either the left or right surface of the outer shape of the camera.   4. A digital camera with a folding liquid crystal finder according to claim 1, further comprising a zoom button on a front surface or a rear surface of the outer shape of the camera.

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